Whatever happens, let's all hope that the right-wing thugs never get their grimy hands on Edward Snowden. This is one big field day in Washington that hopefully will never come! The politicians in Washington need to simply call off this obscene pursuit and let it rest once and for all!

America is the root of all terror. America has invaded sixty countries since world war 2.
In 1953 America overthrow Iran's democratic government Mohammad Mosaddegh and installed a brutal dictator Shah. America helped Shah of Iran to establish secret police and killed thousands of Iranian people.
During Iran-Iraq war evil America supported Suddam Hossain and killed millions of Iranian people. In 1989, America, is the only country ever, shot down Iran's civilian air plane, killing 290 people.
In 2003,America invaded Iraq and killed 1,000,000+ innocent Iraqi people and 4,000,000+ Iraqi people were displaced.
Now America is a failed state with huge debt. Its debt will be 22 trillion by 2015.

"America is the root of all terror" While a catchy phrase, that was perhaps the most ignorant thing I've heard all year. So catchy, but complete BS. Firstly, which 60 countries has the US supposedly invaded? I'll grant that Iran was a bad move, but that was over 60 years ago. Just like the jihadists that rally around the site of the infamous stand-off, you're holding on to this as your only example, and it happened so long ago that everyone involved is probably dead. Trying to link the US and Saddam's horrors shows just how pathetic your claims are. You realize we're the reason he's gone, right? You chase that with a claim that the US killed 5 million people in the Iraq invasion. Now, I know you listed your name as "John Smith", but given your talent for vast exaggeration and outright lies, I'm pretty sure your name isn't American in origin. Pakistani perhaps?

Gee William, please stop spewing out that Tea Party manure of yours, will you? Anyone here with half a brain knows that john above has it right!

June 26, 2013 at 7:58 pm |

William

I despise the Tea Party Portland tony, or should I address you as John Smith? If John above (you) has it right, then please provide proof of the wild claims he/you made.

June 27, 2013 at 2:06 pm |

William

I especially like how you detailed that pretty much everyone the US killed were innocent people. Sure, because middle-eastern countries never try to kill Americans or blow us up, right? Every one of them were just innocent bystanders the US decided it might be fun to kill one day. Grow up. This is why the world doesn't pay a lot of attention to the Taliban and other terrorist groups when they go on about how a drone strike killed 387 people, when in truth the strike killed 15, all or most of which were militant jihadists. No one takes these obvious (and easy to disprove) claims seriously. And while it's true that innocent civilians are sometimes killed by these strikes, I have two things to say about that. First, in war there are always civilian casualties. It's horrible, but inevitable. Second, if the terrorists stopped setting up their camps inside hospitals and schools, this wouldn't be an issue. But to groups like the Taliban it's just too hard to pass up claiming the US is bombing civilians. But when the school that got hit holds 30 people and the Taliban claim the drone strike killed 250... well I don't think I actually need to spell that out, right?

@ Willliam:
First of all I am from Europe......
Nobody forced US to invade any Arabian country. It is a normal human reaction to defend your home country. You would do the same if somebody would fight against you on your ground. As the US started the aggression I guess its quite normal that US soldiers die as well.
Actually I am not blaming the citizens in the US its more about your government and the media. I think that people in the US dont get the full sight of what happens in the world. When I watch the news in US most of the news are about the US and rarely about whats going on in the rest of the world. Even worse the media tells you what you should think and vote. There is another truth. Wake up!!!!!
A very good friend of mine is a 28yrs old sharpshooter in the Marines fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. He volunteered after the 9/11 when there was a big wave of national pride running through your country. He is heavily traumatized today and regrets all the people he shot. He found it a huge mistake today. He was very often in Europe and now he has a totaly different opinion about the reason for going to war. He was just following as like the Lemmings are doing.

I have been working in Arabian countries in the last 2 years and I found the people over there very friendly and very open. Even discussions about politics and religion are not a problem. Fighting, killing, cheating and so on are strongly forbidden in the Islam. Islamic people are not terrorists at all. Of course there are fanatic people but that exists in every country. In Ireland the IRA in Spain the ETA and of course all over the world several rassism groups.

In my humble opinion the real aggressor in this world is the so called World Police USA. Your country goes into war with other countries blaming them to own nuclear, bio or chemical weapons. Actually in the past it was the US throwing a nuclear bomb at Hiroshima, spraying Agent Orange in Vietnam, shooting with uranium enriched grenades in Iraq,..... USA is famous for finger pointing for the cruel happend e.g. in Germany in WW2 but nobody is allowed to do the same for Vietnam, Iraq, etc.

Not one single country in this world would be in trouble with the US if you would not interfere in other countries culture and politics. Why the hell do you need to build a rocket defense system in Europe targeting Russia? Why do you care about North Korea? Who cares about fighting in Iraq? Maybe because of their oil? Why do you need to fight against the whole country Afghanistan? First you support the Taliban and now you fight against them?

I really hope that your government calms down a little bit more and the people in your country starts to understand what really goes on outside of your country. At the moment your country is the biggest risk all over the world.

Sorry, thats my opinion.

June 27, 2013 at 4:22 am |

Markus

Jesus, I should not have written my previous statement. I forgot that my internet activities are heavily screend by your goverment. Lets keep my fingers crossed that I do not wake up tomorrow morning in Guantanamo 😉

What a sick world......

June 27, 2013 at 4:28 am |

William

Markus, you should have stopped with your first post – it was well-thought and organized, if not terribly accurate. No country is ever FORCED to invade another. The US has gotten involved in more military action than I would prefer, but I don't pretend that the Middle East is some victimized group of countries we're picking on for the hell of it. Afghanistan, immediately after 9/11, thumbed their noses at the US, stating that bin laden wasn't in their country, but we couldn't look, and that they knew where he was, but they wouldn't tell. Not the wisest choice after the US just got hit with the worst terrorist attack in its history. And let's not forget where we actually found bin laden – hiding in Pakistan in a rich mansion just a mile or so from their version of the CIA building.

You'll never hear me saying the US is never wrong, or that we always do "what's right". Countries have their own interests at heart, before anything else, and that's just how it is. Sometimes what's right for your country doesn't play nicely with all the other countries. It isn't right or good – it just is. If 200 people are on an island with enough food and water for only 50 or so, things are going to get harsh. Same with military power, natural resources, economic stability, and a million other issues. The US does a lot of things I flatly hate, like National Security Letters and execution of domestic No-Knock Warrants. I would love to see us pull out of the Middle East and only respond to specific problems that cannot fail to arise from an area that's built a system of hate so ingrained, they're still using the Iran Hostage Crisis to drum up anger at the "Great Satan". Point is, you'll never hear me claim that the US is never wrong or that I never disagree with what we do, but the insane claims of some people as to the number killed, etc., are just that – insane. On one of these boards, someone claimed the US had killed over 500,000 innocent (always 100% of them are innocent) Iraqis in the first month or two of our invasion, and that the killing continued like that. Had it been so, there would currently not be many Iraqis left, but that didn't stop the person from posting these outlandish claims with conviction.

I stayed up on the near-daily suicide bombings over the last several years (luckily it's dropped off quite a bit). The interesting thing I noted was that the supporters of Middle Eastern interests excused absolutely any atrocities committed by the Taliban as heroic, and any action by the US, no matter the target or result, was inexcusably evil. There was no ability for these people to accept any of the blame for the US military actions or their silent (or not so silent) approval of terrorists. Only condemnation of the US for anything and everything. I honestly do hope the US pulls out, but we'll never truly leave the Middle East alone again. With the Saudis funding terrorist groups even as they are our supposed ally, bin laden found living in luxury in Pakistan, and the number of terrorist groups that call these regions home, there's simply no rational way the US will ever stop watching them. So I don't mind when someone calls the US the World Police – in many ways we are. There are a lot of people that think we should just pull out our forces and ignore the Middle East, but they're idiots. That's how 9/11 happened. What a lot of people fail to understand is that you can negotiate with many nations and groups, or at least count of them to act in their own self-interest, but you can't predict or negotiate with people that think it's an honor to blow themselves up to kill random, uninvolved civilians.

> ** > William commented: "Markus, you should have stopped with your first > post – it was well-thought and organized, if not terribly accurate. No > country is ever FORCED to invade another. The US has gotten involved in > more military action than I would prefer, but I don't pretend th" >

Wow, 12hour flight (no alcohol) and could not visit beautiful Havana?
Should pulled some strings to get a 24hr tourist visa in the last minute (if possible)
Another 12hr flight back right away, these tickets could not been cheap.

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